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Cleveland's blockchain technology getting programmers ready for the city's future in tech

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In a small office space they've already outgrown, Decent is helping map out the future of a technology most people struggle to grasp.

Adam Gall and Parker McCurley started the company out of networking meetups for people interested in crypto-currencies in Cleveland.

"I wanted to meet like-minded people and get people understanding what this tech is about, understanding what it can do for people, what it's not good at doing," said Gall.

Blockchain technology makes crypto-currencies like Bitcoin run.

It holds information in secure lines of code, cutting out the need for a third party, like a bank, to complete a transaction between two people.

"One of the things we're focused on at Decent is building usable interfaces so people don't need to be sitting in a console, typing in commands to interact with Blockchain," said Gall. "You can make a pretty interface for people to use."

In the ridesharing industry, drivers and riders are connected through Uber or Lyft, who keep some of the money you pay your driver.

Parker and Adam say Blockchain technology could be used instead.

With no middle man, rides would be cheaper, drivers could get paid more and technology break down could be minimized.

"If Uber's servers go down, Uber stops working," said Gall. "That doesn't happen in blockchain."

The same security and anonymity that decentralizes interactions in blockchain also feeds one of the biggest critiques of cyrptocurrency, and blockchain technology: that it can be used for buying drugs and other illegal trades. Adam says that shouldn't take away from the other legal applications.

"There are a lot of things besides drugs that you can do with cryptocurrencies," said Gall. "Those are the people that find the value first because they need to because their livelihood depends on it."

Parker says there are already people in other companies who are focused on how blockchain could change their industry, so it's not unlike the dot-com boom.

"There were so many companies that came out and said 'Lets to this but on the internet' or 'Lets do blank but on the iPhone," said Parker.

Part of Decent's job now is figuring out where blockchain makes the most sense, and they're already bringing on more people to their three-person team.

"Right now we're only hiring local...I really want to showcase that engineering talent we do have here," said Parker.

They say most of that talent, just like the young company itself, comes out of meet ups for people who are just curious.